How to put up your Bell Tent
Take the groundsheet out of the bag and lay it out. Rotate the groundsheet so the door is facing the desired direction.
With a PIG, the door is on the lowered edge of the groundsheet.
With a ZIG, there is a separate smaller section of zip which is for the door
Take the canvas out of the bag and put it on top of the groundsheet lining up the door.
With a PIG, make sure the guy ropes line up with the peg tabs.
With a ZIG, zip in the canvas the whole way round starting from the back of the tent
Peg down the groundsheet using the small steel pegs. Attach the guy ropes to the canvas loops. After this they can be left in place for your next trip.
Put the central wooden pole together. It comes in three parts and the rounded end is for the top. Make sure the pole top cushion and the pole rest are handy for the next step. When assembled, there may be some play in the pole, as the joints allow for expansion of the pole if it gets wet
Insert the pole through the door of the tent. Find the “top cone” of the tent and put the top cushion into the cone and then push the rounded end of the pole into the cone and push the pole upwards until it is upright, and 90 degrees to the ground. Align the bottom of the pole with the central marker on the groundsheet. Place the pole rest underneath the pole.
Loosely peg out the guy ropes making sure that you keep a straight line out from the seam on the canvas. Peg them about 1.9m out from the tent. Loosen the wooden slider to the bottom third of the rope so that you will be able to adjust it later. Do opposite guy ropes after each other for the first four guy ropes that you peg. Do not yet peg out the apex of the door.
Assemble the A frame for the door. We would recommend having it in two pieces while entering the tent. Once inside the tent put the frame together and lie this flat on the floor with the apex in the middle of the tent and the feet at either side of the door. Zip up the door, then put the spike on the apex of the frame through the eyelet on the canvas apex. From the inside of the tent tie the tent to the frame.
Attach the rain cowl from the outside.
Peg out the apex of the door, again making sure that you follow the line of the seam.
Adjust your guy ropes. You are aiming for a vertical wall between where the groundsheet is pegged and where the wall meets the skirt and the guy rope comes out. If it is over hanging for one particular guy rope then loosen that guy rope and tighten the one on the opposite side.
IMPORTANT – Tents with zipped in groundsheets
The side walls must be vertical, with the zip raised to approx four inches above the ground. The canvas band must cover the zip so that the zip is not exposed to the elements. The guy ropes should be pegged out far enough so that the wooden slider is approx one third of the way along the rope from the ground. The groundsheet should be under the canvas and barely visible with no outside shelf where water could gather.
This must be checked daily, and adjusted accordingly and more frequently in windy
conditions, to prevent any water ingress into the tent.
We recommend that the bottom door zips are only zipped to within two inches of the ends for everyday use, and that these are only fully unzipped when totally removing the groundsheet.
Remove the rain cowl and store in a safe place. Unpeg the guy rope from the front of the door and then take out the door frame and put it back in its bag. Then unpeg all the other guy ropes from around the tent. Take the pole out through the doorway – make sure you pick up the pole top cushion and the pole rest when you leave the tent.
Making sure that you keep the canvas over the groundsheet (to prevent it getting wet) put all the guy ropes inside the tent. Then fold it in half, and then in half again as shown in the photos below. Make sure that the width of your tent will fit lengthways in the tent bag.
How to store your Bell Tent
How to prevent mould & rot
How to 'weather' your Bell Tent